Meet the Disabilities Officer!
Sam Haselgrove, the Imperial College Union Disabilities Officer, provides an update and gives his take on disabilities and his role
Hey guys! My name is Sam, and I am the Disabilities Officer for the Student Union here at Imperial. My role is to represent the interests of and improve the university experience for the disabled community. There are a few ways of defining a disability; the way that I define it is through the social model of disabilities. The model is based on the idea that people are disabled by the barriers that society puts in front of them, whether that be a physical barrier, such as steps rather than a ramp, or a mental barrier caused by people’s attitudes towards differences. My mission is to ultimately make Imperial a place where barriers of any kind don’t exist.
One of my main goals for the year is to boost the profile of the university’s amazing Disabilities Advisory Service (DAS). They are here to provide tailored support to students to help them get through their degree. They don’t just provide support to students with physical disabilities, but rather to anyone with a specific learning disability, enduring mental health condition, sensory impairments, long-term medical condition or social/communication difficultlies. There is so much more than what many people initially assume when you hear about the Disabilities Advisory Service. I would urge anyone who needs help of any kind and fits into those categories to utilise the amazing service we have here!
Coming up soon, from 22nd November to 22nd December, we have Disabilities History Month. Promotional material related to the upcoming events will be sent out soon when the details of the events have been finalised. In the meantime, here is a little flavour of one of the events: the “Diving for All” (DfA) programme. Imperial’s Underwater Society is teaming up with the British Sub-Aqua Club’s (BSAC’s) to bring about the “Diving for All” programme, which is all about helping people with disabilities go diving. This opportunity is open to everyone, regardless of what your impairment may be. If you fancy giving diving a go, get in touch via email: teachingofficer@ic.ac.uk. A “TryDive” will be organised, where you can go for a short dive in Imperial’s Ethos swimming pool with an instructor to see if it is something you enjoy.
Lastly, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch; my officer email is disoff@ic.ac.uk.
